world we created, paul lahote

Chapter 18

Lucia was in the kitchen preparing dinner for herself and Charlie. Most nights, it was just the two of them because Edward always managed to pull Bella away for some reason. He never explained for what either. One moment, Bella would be there, the next, she'd be gone. Lucia gathered ingredients to make sandwiches for them, knowing Charlie would be buried in his work at the table by now, papers strewn all around, dinner long forgotten.

Balancing their food and drinks, Lucia made her way to the dining table. As expected, Charlie was engrossed in the missing person cases that had gotten progressively worse in Seattle since last year. It was baffling how many people had gone missing in such a short period and the worst part was, was that the police still had no leads on what or who was doing this. Charlie hadn't even noticed Lucia had approached until she set the food down just out of the way of his work.

"Are they getting worse?" Lucia asked gently as they began eating, her eyes trailing over the missing person's report that lay open in front of Charlie.

Charlie leaned back in his chair, papers still scattered before him. A tired sigh left his lips; his weariness was evident in his voice as he nodded. "Yeah, they are. We don't even know what the probable cause is." He handed the missing person flyer with the name RILEY BIERS to Lucia, who looked over it.

"This kid, Riley Biers, disappeared over a year ago, and his poor parents have been papering Seattle with these things ever since.."

Lucia's voice softened as she responded, "Must be hard for them."

"I can't imagine what it must be like. If I lost you or Bella..." Charlie's voice trailed off with a heavy sigh.

Lucia bit her lip, her mind veering towards the unsettling prospect of Bella's future disappearance and the Cullen's plan to feign her death when she became a vampire. She couldn't understand how Bella could do it so easily, especially when her father was alive and well to protect and love her. Lucia would kill to have her father back. She'd never leave him with that kind of pain, especially for the sake of being with a walking corpse.

Lucia carefully chose her words, wanting to offer Charlie some solace. "You won't lose me, Charlie. I'll be here, always."

The front door swung open, and Bella entered the house, coming towards her father and placing her bag by the leg of the table. Lucia glanced briefly at her cousin before clearing her throat before she rose from her seat. She and Bella still hadn't spoken since their disagreement -- albeit the Swan girl tried. It had gotten to the point she'd cornered her, but Lucia still wouldn't budge. She refused to roll over for Bella's idiotic choice of immortality.

Bella spoke to her father, but Lucia had tuned out of their conversation. She wanted to head on up to her bedroom before Charlie began to question what exactly had happened between the two of them to cause such a rift -- not that they had much of a relationship, to begin with. Lucia managed to dodge the question multiple times. She wasn't sure how many more times she'd do it until her uncle was fed up and forced it out of her. Lucia quickly downed her apple juice and took the last slice of her sandwich before going upstairs, away from the two Swans.

Lucia sat comfortably at her desk, savouring the last few bites of her sandwich as she leisurely scrolled through the various courses and career options on her computer screen. She didn't have grand ambitions of being influential; all she longed for was a simple life--a warm home with a loving husband and a job that brought her fulfilment.

The thought of having a husband made her cheeks flush for a moment, her mind drifting to Paul, her Paul. But she quickly refocused her attention on her current task with pink cheeks. It happens more often than not these days. Knowing that they were destined made her heart skip several beats.